Such containers, in particular mascara containers, conventionally comprise a wiper provided close to the neck of the container (in practice on the reservoir), which is adapted to keep back the excess product taken by the applicator on being plunged into the reservoir.
In practice the application member comprises a cap which the user acts upon to manipulate the mascara applicator. The fact that the mascara is liquid or pasty means that efficient sealing must be provided outside periods when mascara is applied, when the cap is engaged on the neck of the container; in practice this sealing is obtained by screwing or by clip action of the cap onto the neck of the container. It follows that the cap is a member which forms a substantial part of the outside surface of a mascara container in closed configuration, and that combined movements or significant forces may have to be provided to open the container before an action to apply mascara.
Document EP-1 721 543 describes various containers for cosmetic product including a mascara container (cf. FIGS. 18-24) comprising:                a body which is elongate in a longitudinal direction and provided with a bottom and a free edge,        a reservoir contained in that body and movable in translation between a low stable position and a high stable position, the reservoir comprising a neck,        an elastically compressible device with two stable retraction positions which is disposed between the body and the reservoir and of which the two stable axial retraction positions define the two stable positions, low and high, of the reservoir,        an application member comprising a shaft terminated by an applicator adapted to be loaded with mascara, this application member having a resting configuration in which a part of the shaft and the applicator are contained in the reservoir so as to enable the applicator to be loaded with mascara, and being able to be completely out of the reservoir and of the container,        a cap joined to the shaft of the application member and adapted to engage within the body, the stable axial retraction configurations of the elastically compressible device being such that when the application member is in its resting configuration in the reservoir, the cap is either retracted into the body flush with the free edge of the body, or it projects at least partially from the body,        a wiper provided at the exit of the reservoir so as to be passed through by the applicator when it enters the reservoir or when it is extracted therefrom, and        complementary sealing members respectively carried by the shaft and the neck of the reservoir.        
Such a configuration is simple and reliable in use without significant risk of inadvertent opening, while making it possible to have very sleek aesthetics, and without leading to prohibitive voluminosity.
More particularly, the retraction of the cap into the body of the container enables the aesthetics of the container to be essentially defined by that body, while the presence of the elastically compressible device with two stable retraction positions enables a mere movement of pushing in of the cap, transmitted to the reservoir, to give rise to the passage of that device from one retraction position to the other, and leads either to the retraction of the cap (and there is very little risk of the cap inadvertently getting out of the body), or to a part of that cap coming to project sufficiently to enable that projecting part to be grasped between the fingers of a user then its extraction out from the body to perform the application of the product taken by the applicator (which only requires the user to make movements that are simple, with a single hand).
However, such a container as described in document EP-1 721 543 must comply with various dimensional constraints.
Thus the axial distance over which the cap comes to project in the high stable position relative to the body must be sufficient to enable grasping by a user, whereas that distance is equal to the axial distance between the high and low positions of the elastically compressible device; the travel of that elastically compressible device must therefore be all the greater when it is desired to facilitate that grasping.
Furthermore, in the example described in the aforementioned document, the complementary sealing members are constituted by a protuberance carried by the shaft between the cap and the applicator, and anchoring claws provided on the neck of the reservoir: in low configuration of the reservoir, those claws are radially supported by the inside wall of the body so as to remain engaged on that protuberance, whereas the high position of the reservoir is such that the claws are outside the volume of the body, so as to be able to move apart radially and release the protuberance. It follows therefrom that, when such a form of complementary sealing members is chosen, it must be provided for the cap to be completely out of the body in the high configuration of the reservoir. Consequently, when such a choice is made, the travel of the elastically compressible device must be all the greater when it is desired to choose a large height for the cap.
On a subsidiary basis, with regard to such a choice for the complementary sealing members, it may be noted that the geometry proposed in the aforementioned documents implies very precise dimensioning to provide good sealing.
Also on a subsidiary basis, with regard to such a choice, it may be noted that the existence of the claws, which participate in the definition of the opening which the shaft and its applicator must pass through on entering the reservoir or on extraction therefrom, allows slots to remain which are liable to be clogged by the product carried by the applicator, which may adversely affect the cleanliness of the neck of that reservoir, as well as the durability of the applicator (if there is a risk of the latter being degraded when getting past those claws). Furthermore, in the example proposed in that document in which the protuberance is substantially sphere-shaped, the movement towards each other of the claws leads to applying an axial force on the shaft, which may vary over time or with the wear of those claws, such that the sealing effect is also liable to vary over time.